


In the Tower

by ereshai



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dragons, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Femslash Big Bang Monthly Challenge, Gen or Pre-Slash, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:12:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7053169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trapped in a tower, Maria is not waiting to be rescued.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Tower

_THUD_.

Maria didn’t bother to look up when the heavy sound reverberated through the stone walls of her room - _prison_ \- and sent dust sprinkling down on top of the braided cloth rope piled at her feet. The sound had been steadily repeating over the past two days, at various times of the day - never at night, thankfully. She had no idea who it could be - a fellow prisoner, perhaps? Probably not the dragon that had stashed her here - it was too big to actually fit inside the tower. It had dropped Maria on the wide terraced balcony outside this room weeks ago and she hadn’t seen it since. She hadn’t seen anyone or anything since. Whoever was on the other side of the wall didn’t really matter; she could sit and wait for them to finally break through or she could continue to work on her own means of escape. She could not rely on whoever was coming to be friendly - she knew better than to expect a rescue party.

_THUD._

Seven chimes of some unseen clock sounded and Maria’s supper appeared on the table. As always, it was simple fare - bread, cheese, fruit, and a tankard of ale. Sometimes she was given meat and wine, but not tonight. As simple as it was, it was the best food she’d ever eaten, and the only good thing about her captivity. Preventing the dragon from ravaging her kingdom by sacrificing herself to the beast could also be considered a good thing, but such altruistic thinking didn’t comfort her; there was no guarantee the dragon had even left them alone. As it was, Maria had no interest being a martyr; if she was going to die to protect her people, she’d rather take the dragon with her.

If only she had a weapon. If only her father’s advisers had trusted in her plan. She might have been able to talk her father around, but there hadn’t been enough time. They’d taken her to Dragon Rock - so named not because it looked like a dragon, but because that was where dragons liked to perch and were therefore most likely to find their intended victims - and imprisoned her there without even her belt knife.

“ _You’ll only do it some minor injury and anger it_ ,” Maria muttered mockingly, “ _and we’ll all pay the price_.” She broke the roll in half and tore a bite out of it, glaring at nothing as she chewed furiously. “Lackwits. As if I would strike before I was certain to do it more than an _injury_.” Not much was known of dragons - why did they carry off sacrificial victims instead of eating them on the spot, as they did with sheep and cows? - but its brain was surely in its head and given a long enough blade, she could have stabbed it through the eye as it tried to eat her. Although making a meal of her didn’t seem to be its motivation; she would hardly fill its belly like a cow would. Such thoughts always occupied her during her meals, when she had nothing else to distract her. Unanswered questions - Why bring her here? Whose tower was it? Why did the room have no door? - only filled her with frustration, threatening to turn the food sour in her stomach.

After supper, Maria went to inspect the wall that was the source of the pounding, which had thankfully ceased while she was eating. It usually stopped at that time, and would not begin again until the next morning. The stones making up the walls of the tower were impossibly large, but that was perhaps to be expected in a place of such obvious magic. One of them, which was as wide as two of her and measured from her ankles to her middle, was protruding a hand’s-width from the wall. Pieces of mortar had crumbled to the floor around it. This after only two days, and she had nothing to set in front of it to slow its progress. It would be best to work on her rope well into the night; sleep might very well be the death of her.

Maria went to the wardrobe that took up half of the opposite wall. It was once again full of silk dresses. The magic of the tower was strange. The clothing she took from the wardrobe was replaced in the night; anything damaged or dirtied was cleaned and repaired, but only if she replaced it exactly where she’d found it. Everything fit, but none of the colors were flattering. There was no way of asking for something different; as with the food, she took what she was given. She grabbed an armful of dresses and added them to the dwindling pile by her chair - if there was a chance the magic would stop working, she wanted to be prepared. She had a similar store of food laid by.

As the sun set, throwing the room into deep shadow, the candles in the room sprang to life. The smell of melting wax filled the air. Maria moved one of the candlesticks to the table where she was working. She picked up one of the dresses from the pile and tore off the lace trim. With a tiny pair of sewing scissors, she made a small cut in a seam and ripped it apart. Funny that there were sewing supplies when the room held a clothes-repairing wardrobe, but eating utensils had never been provided. An eating knife would be of more help than these almost useless scissors, especially if the dragon ever came back.

Maria soon reduced the dress to ragged strips and added several lengths to her rope before she became too tired to trust her work. In the morning, she would lower it over the side of the balcony and see if it was long enough to reach another balcony - very similar to hers - located far below. Reaching it was her only choice - her tower prison was built into a mountainside and even had she the time to make a rope long enough to reach safe ground, she didn’t have the strength and endurance such a descent would require. Such an attempt would be idiotic and if she had to die, she wanted her death to be meaningful, not stupid.

After a night filled with dreams of successfully escaping the tower and returning home in triumph, inexplicably on the dragon’s back instead of bearing its severed head, Maria woke to the soft light of morning. Bread and fruit awaited her on the table. She ate sparingly, still unused to breakfast every day. It was highly indulgent, but today she felt she would need it.

Wind howled outside, but on the terrace Maria felt only a light breeze. Would that protection extend to the rest of the tower? The only item of sufficient weight to keep the rope from whipping about was the chair. If it didn’t reach the balcony below, she would have to raise it up again; she might not have the time or the strength needed.

Luck was with her; when she dropped the bundled rope over the side of the balcony - one end tightly secured to the railing - it fell straight down, swinging wildly before eventually swaying to a stop. But when Maria looked, the other balcony was even further away - it was now impossibly far below her. She would more likely sprout wings and fly before she could make a rope to reach it.

Maria slumped against the rail, her head in her hands. But she only allowed a brief moment for despair. She had another option - whoever was trying to break through the wall. There was a chance they would be sympathetic to her plight. If not…well, perhaps she could take them by surprise.

_THUD._

As if summoned by her thoughts, the pounding started for the day, spurring her to action. With the rope now proven useless, Maria turned her attention to another project - sewing a pair of trousers from one of the dresses. Her skirts would only slow her down during her escape. And she _would_ escape.

By day’s end, her head was pounding in time with the wall and she had a garment that could be said to resemble a pair of trousers. Sewing had never held her interest and she was reaping the rewards of her inattention, just as she had been warned. As a point of pride, only a few spots of her blood decorated the seams.

The noise mercifully stopped with the evening meal. Maria ate absently as she considered what she would do after the stone was pushed through. There was no way to know when that would happen - it was now protruding half an arm’s-length from the wall, but she did not know how much more was left to be revealed. Was the person on the other side coming for her, or were they only seeking escape? Would they be hostile? She had nothing, not even a fireplace poker, for her defense. If they were friendly, would they be helpful or a hindrance?

Maria spent some time reading one of the books from the shelves that lined the walls. It was dull, reminiscent of the books her tutors deemed appropriate for a young woman of her status, and she soon set it aside and readied herself for bed. Maybe tomorrow would be the day she saw the last of this place. One way or another.

Her dreams that night were filled with the dragon again - standing on the brow of a hill, watching it twist and dive through clouds; flying through the air, clutched in its talons; creeping toward it as it sleeps, a knife in her hand. She’d never had such fanciful dreams in her life and woke often, leaving her less than well-rested when morning finally came.

The pounding started up after breakfast and Maria retreated to the terrace with a selection of books that would hopefully prove to be marginally interesting. She had never been good at sitting and waiting patiently.

At midday - and three discarded books later - the noise stopped, replaced by a grating sound. Maria tossed her book aside, leapt to her feet, and hurried over to the door that lead back into the room. By the time her eyes adjusted to the dim interior, the stone had stopped moving and someone was coming out from behind it.

Maria had long made of habit of not falling into the same patterns of thinking that categorized and therefore underestimated people based on their station in life or their appearance. But she thought she could be forgiven her surprise when the person who appeared was not some muscle-bound warrior but a slender, red-haired woman. She was dressed in a shift and she held a staff like a spear, pointed in front of her as if ready to stab.

Maria took a hesitant step into the room. “Good day,” she said mildly.

The woman’s eyes flickered to the doorway at Maria’s back. “Greetings.”

“Are you a prisoner here, as well?”

The woman nodded shortly. She let go of the staff and it clattered to the floor. “There was a sorcerer. He trapped me here.”

A sorcerer. A powerful one, to have a dragon to do his bidding. Now the tower made sense, as did the lack of doors leading to the inside. Sorcerers were known for their ability to appear and disappear, no matter how secure a castle’s gates might be.

“You said was. Is he gone now?”

The woman nodded again and this time she smiled. “He grew complacent and I was finally able to kill him.”

“Thank you.” Though she hadn’t had any dealings with the sorcerer, he could not have set a dragon on her kingdom and imprisoned the two of them for any noble purpose. And what if there were more women trapped here? “Is there any other way out of the room you came from? I’m afraid there’s no escape from this one.”

The woman looked out at the terrace again as she shook her head. “Only four blank walls. Not even a window to see the sky.” She started to walk toward Maria - no, she was going outside and Maria was simply in her way.

“How did you move such a large stone all on your own?” she asked as she moved out of the woman’s way. She would not keep her from the world any longer. Why had Maria been given such luxurious accommodations and this woman had not even a decent dress? Perhaps she had been more fortunate in her isolation than she knew.

“The sorcerer’s staff. It holds his magic, even after his death. I hit the wall with it until it did what I wished.” The woman sounded distracted and when she stepped outside, she stopped, her eyes closed and her face lifted to the sky.

“Do you know if there are any other people here? More prisoners? Servants of the sorcerer?” Maria was already making tentative plans to break through another wall; there had to be a way out that did not require the arts of a sorcerer.

“We are the only two in this place.” She said it with confidence and Maria chose to believe her. If she was mistaken, Maria would take the deaths of any undiscovered prisoners on her own soul. “The magic of the tower will fade soon.”

“Then we must make our escape as quickly as possible.”

The woman smiled again. “I have already gained my freedom.” She opened her eyes and turned to face Maria. “What is your name?”

Maria thought of her many titles. What were they worth now that she had been cast aside, sacrificed by her own father? Formal introductions would be ridiculous in any case. “Maria.”

“Well met, Maria. You may call me Natasha. Do you wish to leave with me?”

“You know of a way out?”

“Come, I will show you.” Natasha walked to the edge of the terrace and climbed onto the railing.

Dread filled Maria’s whole body. “Wait-“

Natasha spread her arms and leapt into the air. Maria lunged forward, too late.

The heavy beat of wings filled the air. Maria crept toward the railing and peered over the side. There, hovering in the air, was a dragon. _The_ dragon. It - _she_ \- was looking up at her, waiting. She would not be able to stay there forever.

Maria looked back at the tower room. Nothing waited there for her but a slow death. Trusting the dragon - trusting Natasha - could mean life, a fuller one than had waited for her in her father’s kingdom. If not, well, she had accepted her fate long ago. The dragon would not find her an easy mouthful, if it came to that. She climbed onto the railing and jumped.


End file.
